Sales happen after 5 touches. Most give up in 2. She's changing that.

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Talk to Cheryl Scoffield, the Follow-Up Specialist and you’ll start to wonder just how many sales you’ve left on the table. How many warm prospects you let cool and then go cold because you didn’t have a process for effective follow-up that goes beyond the first few touches.

Our focus at Influence Magazine is to boldly celebrate brilliance and in this, a Spotlight feature, on Cheryl Scoffield, we shine our light brightly so you can get to know the story behind her success.

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Sharon RicciEditor-in-Chief

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INFLUENCE INSIGHT

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Where does this one or two touch sales mentality come from?

According to Cheryl, business professionals responsible for sales often have one question in their mind, “Who can I close today and who can I close this month to meet my targets?”. After a few touches, either by phone or email, Cheryl finds that the majority of people push a once “hot” lead into a database for “follow-up later.” The pattern Cheryl sees is that once a lead is in a “database” it never gets touched or nurtured again.

As Cheryl was speaking about those hot leads heading into a database I couldn’t help think of the phrase “Databases, where good leads go to die”.

That phrase wouldn’t be far off considering Cheryl says it is her experience that these lead databases often have thousands of leads with maybe the top 10% being active. That means only one in ten continue along what Cheryl calls the “path to purchase”.

Another aspect that Cheryl is passionate about is maximizing in-person, real-world conversations. Cheryl says that very often when business owners and professionals feel a strong initial connection with someone they'll set up a "get to know you" coffee meeeting. At the end inevitably this sentence, or something very close to it, is said, “It’s been wonderful to meet you. If I ever need your services, or know someone that does, I’ll let you know.”

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And from there what happens?

According to Cheryl, almost always the answer is “Nothing”.

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And that is why Cheryl, through her business Kickstart your Company, works with business owners and professionals to maximize the sales potential buried in their list. Cheryl co-creates sales lead management systems for clients that focus on following up through CRMs and digital platforms including email marketing, LinkedIn and more.

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An important part of this follow up system is helping professionals take what they say in person and convey it with equal authenticity and passion in the new digital world of LinkedIn and email. According to Cheryl, “Every business owner has all this information which they give verbally in one on one situations like tradeshows and networking events. They say it with passion and authenticity but they aren’t transmitting that same messaging online.” Cheryl works with them to bridge that gap.

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Why does Cheryl do what she does?

Cheryl is a self-described voracious collector of information. From her start selling fabrics on Spadina Avenue in the fashion district of Toronto Ontario she was taught the standard sales wisdom of how to get to know people to create prospects and clients. What she found was that as a business moved into the digital age this information wasn't working for her or many others she spoke with. After years of investigation she found out what actually does work and she loves sharing her insights with her clients either through skills training or strategy implementation.

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About Kickstart Your Company​

Kickstart Your Company, a business development leader that provides consulting, skills training and mentoring of advanced in person and online lead generation, sales lead management and follow up marketing skills to individuals, companies and organizations to multiply results and make prospecting profitable.